Acjacheme ("a heap of animated things") was an

Acjachemen The Acjachemen () are an Indigenous people of California. Published maps often identify their ancestral lands as extending from the beach to the mountains, south from what is now known as Aliso Creek (Orange County), Aliso Creek in Orange County, ...

village that was closely situated to the mother village of Putuidem in what is now

San Juan Capistrano, California San Juan Capistrano (also known colloquially as San Juan or SJC) is a city in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 35,253 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. Named for Saint John of Capistrano, San Ju ...

. The Spanish missionaries constructed

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, California, San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''The Califo ...

less than 60 yards from the village in 1776. ''Acjachemen'' is a pluralization of the word ''Acjacheme'', and became the moniker for the people overall after the mission period. The village has also been referred to as Akhachmai, Ahachmai, Akagchemem, Acágcheme'','' and Axatcme. The village site has been identified as being at an elementary school east of the

José de Grácia Cruz José de Grácia Cruz (c. 1848 – 1924) was a Acjachemen man who was born in 1848 at Mission San Juan Capistrano. He was known for his work as a Bell-ringer, bell ringer at the mission, as an artisan, a flutist in a native orchestra that would pl ...

, who was one of the last native people born at the mission in the 1840s. ''Ahachmai'' has been referred to as a dialect or variety of the

Acjachemen language The Acjachemen () are an Indigenous people of California. Published maps often identify their ancestral lands as extending from the beach to the mountains, south from what is now known as Aliso Creek in Orange County to Las Pulgas Canyon in th ...

and is used, although less commonly, to refer to the people as a whole.

History

Gerónimo Boscana noted that the village "was later ruled by a relative called Choqual," who also was the leader of Putuidem. The village here was referred to as ''Atoum-pumcaxque'', which was the village of Ahachmai. Choqual was a relative of Chief Oyaison, who came from Sejat, and his daughter Coronne.

Colonial encounters

The

Portolá expedition thumbnail, 250px, Point of San Francisco Bay Discovery The Portolá expedition was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European exploration of the interior of the present-day California. It was led by Gas ...

encountered the village in 1769. With the establishment of Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1778 next to the village, the mission was dependent on local villagers for labor. Boscana, who was stationed at Mission San Juan Capistrano between 1814 and 1826, noted the following of the village:

...the Indians, on returning home, arrived and put up for the night at a place called ''Acagchemen'', distant from where the mission now stands only about sixty yards. From this time, the new colony assumed the name corresponding to the place. ''Acagchemen'' signifies a pyramidal form of anything that moves, such as an anthill or place of resort for other insects.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

The population of Acjacheme may have declined after the establishment of Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776. Many of the villagers were likely converted to Christianity shortly after the mission's founding. By 1810, there were 1,138 native converts at the mission. The San Juan Capistrano earthquake of 1812 collapsed a stone church built by "neophytes," with most of the casualties being Acjachemen women, likely from nearby villages. By the time of the secularization of the mission in 1833, 4,317 Acjachemen and other native people had been baptized at the mission (1,689 adults and 2,628 children). The number of deaths at the mission was 3,158—probably mostly Acjachemen. Those who survived living at the mission often settled in the surrounding area afterward, possibly including Acjacheme.

Further identification

José de Gracia Cruz who was one of the last native people from Mission San Juan Capistrano (born in the 1840s), identified the village site as being at an elementary school east of the mission. In 1980, some artifacts on the school grounds were still being found by native people, including "a fire pit or ring, some stone artifacts, and a quantity of shell." Two authors of a 1980 study stated that this site was, as a result, in need of more archaeological investigation.

Popular culture

Eleanor Coerr's ''The Bell Ringer and the Pirates'' (1983) narrativizes the story of the attack on San Juan Capistrano by a group of pirates led by the French Hippolyte de Bouchard in 1818, with characters from Ahachmai. The book follows eight-year-old boy Pio from the village, who warns his family and friends of the attack.

References